Antifriction-bearing.



J. P. KARNS.

ANTI'RICTION BEARING'.

APPLICATION FILED JUN'B a, 190-y Patented Deo. 8, 1908,

cumin sirnrngswrrnnr essieu.

JOHN PRUE KARNS, OF BOULDER, COLORADQASSIGNOR TO THE J. P. KARNSTUNNELING MACHINE CO., OF BOULDER, COLORADO ANTIFRICTION-BEARING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 8, 1908.

vOriginal application filed February 23, 1907, Serial No. 358,867.Divided and this application led J une 8, 1907. Serial No. 377,983.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN PRUE KARNS,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Boulder, in the county ofBoulder and State of Colorado, have invented a new and usefulAntifriction-Bearing, of which the following is a specification.

vThis invention has reference to improvements in anti-friction bearingsdesigned more l0 particularly for use in connection with drillingmachines such as shown and described ink my application No. 358,867,filed February 23, 1907, of which this case is u division. ln drillingmachines such as set forth in my said application the structures areneces sarily massive, since the work to be'done by such machines is veryheavy, particularly in the larger types, where the drill-head isot'ttimes oi' such size as to produce u bore up to eighteen or more feetin diameter, und is designed to work through all types of material, eventhe hardest rock. Likewise, the structurel parts of such machines aresubjected to heavy strains and shocks because ofthe great power requiredund the hummer blows delivered. In such drilling muchines the drill-headis carried on u suitable shaft capable of being reciprocuted on itslongitudinal axis and-nlso rotated about said axis. Because of thegreat'. weight. of the parts, the journal bearings ot such a sha'l'tmust be of ample uren and at the sume time should present but littleresistance to the movement of the shaft either longitudinally orrotativelyr" I It is, the object ot' the present inventiorrto provideunti-friction bearings which will withstand the great struins to whichbeurings are subjected in machines ot' the char- 40 acter referred tobut ut the same time oter but a minimum of resistance to the movement.ot' the pui-ts carried by said bearings.

'.lhe invention consists essentially in providing a` number ofsupporting balls Jf'or thev shuft, each of which is sented in u suitablepocket lined with smaller balls, and each pocket is so constructed thatits smalle1'balls are free to travel in any plane of rotation of thelarger ball, whatever that plane may be, without jamming or cramping,whereby the Wear-is equally distributed. In addition, the inventioncomprises a journal bearing 1n which there are :i number of suchball-bearings adjustably mounted to coact with the shaft.

A full understanding ot the invention is best had by reference to' thefollowing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawingsforming part of this specification, in which,

Figure 1 is a cross section through a journal bearing constructed inaccordance with my invention, with parts shown in elevation; Fig. 2 is ulongitudinal section of the vsame structure; Fig. 3 is an end view; and

Fig. 4 is a section, partly in elevation, of one of the anti-'frictionbull carriers on a larger scale than the other figures.

Referring to the drawings, there is shown a shaft l which may be takenas the shaft supporting u suitable drill-head oi a. drilling machinesuch as set forth' in my aforesaid application. This shaft. may beprovided with a. suitable number ot` journal boxes, of which but one,however, is shown in the drawings. '.lhis journal box is composed ot' alower or supporting member 'l and an upper or cap member 3. Euch haltlof the journal box contains a number of ball-bearing cups '4, best shownin Fig.

though quite clearly shown, but on a smaller scale, in the othertiguics. These cups 4f :1re cach composed of a cylindrical castinghuring a. peripheral flange 5 at the upper edge and asemi-spherical,.cup-shaped receptacle (3 for the balls constituting theball-bearing unit. This ball-bearing is composed of a. large bull 7seated upon u number of smaller balls S cnibrucing practically half thesurface of the larger ball and disposed between the latter und the wallsof the semi-spherical receptacle o und constituting a lining for suidreceptacle or pocket. Fliese bulls are retained in the cupby a top plate9 having un opening l0 of suitable shape to permit the bull T to projectfor u distance but :it the sume time preventing it vfrom leaving thepocket in which it is seated. The openinr 10 lthrough the plate 9 isslightly tapered and its smaller diameter is less than the dilarged by.a peripheral groove 11 of such size as to permit the upper row of ballsto play around the same freely, so that when the large ball 7 is rotatedthe smaller balls 8 are slowly carried down one side and up the otherside into the free runway 11, when they will be readily divertedlaterally and quickly find their way around this runway to follow thedownward stream of balls passing under` the large ball 7 This freerunway an important feature of these ball-bearing units, since itprevents any danger of the smaller balls jamming` under the action ofthe large ball, and also causes the various balls 8 to be brought intoactiony frequently, so that the wear is very evenly distributed. j

j Each ball cup 4 is provided with a central perforation 12, so that anyparticles of matier which may lind their into the receptacle willultimately escape through said passageway 12. The ball cups Ll aresometimes formed with a ehamfered edge 13, and at other times the ballcups 4 are simply cylindrical, these shapes depending upon theparticular point where said ball cups may be used.

The lower section 2 of the journal casing is provided with a number ofcylindrical pockets 14 shaped so that .they will receive the ball cups1l and the latter are adjusted in this pocket in a radial direction withrelation to the axis of the curvature thereof by adjusting screws 15extending' through the casing from the exterior thereof and bearingagainst the rear face of the cups il.

In the particular machinefor which these anti-friction bearings aredesigned the shaft 1 carries very heavy weights and there is but littletendency to lift the shaft, so that by far the greaterlportion oftheweight and strain is borne by the lower section 2 of the journalcasing. For this reason many ball cups as can be convenientlyaccommodated are provided for the lower member 2 of the journal casing,and these ball cups are arranged in staggered series so as to sustainthe weight at as many points as is possible without sacrificingstrength. The upper half. or cap plate 8 of the ournal casing isprovided to prevent the shaft from jumping up from its seat in the lowersection 2. As the cap 3 has but little strain to bear, a single-'row ofball units circumferentially arranged about the shaft is Sullicient forthe purpose. Since, because of the Vworn, may be replaced at a triiingegrpense as compared with the cost of a new shaft.

It may be observed that the direct weight of the shaft is borne by thelarge balls 7 which may be made of ample strength for the purpose. Inorder to provide requisite support for these balls the small balls 8 aremade to embrace a large portion of the large balls, thus distributingtheweight borne by the large balls upon numerous anti-friction points.

lVhile ll have described the anti-'friction bearings as particularlyadapted to the drilling machine described in my aforesaid application,it will be understood that these bearings may be used in any connectionwhere heavy moving weights are to be supported with a i'ninimnm offriction between the moving members and the bearings therefor. j

I claim 1. journal bearing for shaftscomprising a lower section, aplurality of staggered scries of ball units carried by said lowersection, an upper section, and one circumferential series of ball unitscarried by said upper section, each journal box section having pocketsfor the reception of the ball units, and adjustingscrews entering saidpockets for moving the yunits radially toward the axis ot' the journalbox.

ing a lower section` a plurality of series of ball units carriedthereby, an upper section, and one eireumferential series of ball unitscarried thereby, each journal box section having' pockets for thereception of the ball units, and means for moving` the units radiallywith reference to the axis of the journal box.

3. A journal bearing comprising tWo sections and ball units, one sectioncarrying series of ball. units in staggered relation and the othersection carrying a single seriesof ball units.

4. A journal bearing for shafts, conipris- 'ing two sections and ballunits each eonsistingof a cup having a semi-spherical recess` with alininje therefor of small balls, and a larg-e ball seated on the smallerballs, one journal bearingr section carrying a plurality of series ofball units and the other journal bearing section carrying a lessernumber of 2'. A journal bearing for shafts comprisball nuits than thetirst-named journal bearing section.

A journal bearing comprising` two sec.- tions and ball units, each unitbeing coinposed of a cup formed with a semi-spherical eoefiee sggrecess, a lining of small balls in said clip and as my own, I havehereto ei'xed my signaa large ball seated on the smaller balls, one ture1n the presence of ltwo witnesses.

journal bearing section carrying a plurality T of series of such ballunits in staggered re- JOHN PRUE KABA b' .e lation .and the othersection carrymg a sn- Witnesses: v y

gle circumferential series of such ball units. JoeEPH l?. DEVEREUX;

l In testimony that I claim the foregoing HENRY L. BRXEN.

